With Tanaka Down, Felix Hernandez is New Cy Young Favorite

The New York Yankees cannot catch a break.  They were having trouble with pitching then Masahiro Tanaka came along and looked like he could be their savior.

He had an amazing first quarter of baseball. His number were astounding, specifically for a first-year MLB pitcher. He began to taper off, but now we know it was likely because he wasn’t completely healthy.

If Tanaka kept up his level of pitching there is no doubt that he would be known as a Cy Young Award winning pitcher. However, with his injury he is out of the running, and so are the Yankees for any real contention at the World Series.

Even before Tanaka went down with an injury, Felix Hernandez was beginning to show that it was he who might take home the Cy Young award and with Tanaka all but officially out of the running, the clear favorite is Hernandez.

He had an amazing month in June. Over his last six starts he had 4.1 IP, 1.22 ERA, 0.72 WHIP and a 54/6 K/BB.

It was not just June that has pushed Hernandez as the clear favorite. He has a 2.11 ERA, the second best in the league, he ranks third in strikeouts with 145 and his batting average against is .201. This season is genuinely shaping up to be the best in Hernandez’s 10-year-long career.

If it is any consolation to the Yankees, the Seattle Mariners  are not fairing much better than the Yankees in the standing or World Series contention on the back of Hernandez’s pitching. It is the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles that will likely battle for control of the AL East until the end of the season, while the Mariners  will watch the Oakland A’s or Los Angeles Angels take their division.

But having one of your pitchers get a shiny award is still nice.